


The scar is not on the wrong side! (It was)

by scar-and-boomerang (Y_Woo)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Established Relationship Sokka/Zuko, Fluff, Friendship, Fun, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh is a sweetheart, Light Angst, M/M, Moderin AU, Modern Era, Phantom of the Opera - Freeform, Zuko is a Phantom of the Opera trash and so am I, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, shipping is really not that prominent, this is mainly just fun, this is very self indulgent, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 20:43:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21151916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Y_Woo/pseuds/scar-and-boomerang
Summary: In which it turned out Zuko didn't know his favourite musical as well as he thought he did, Sokka fulfils his crossdressing dreams, the Gaang are all comedic disasters, Iroh makes a lot of tea, and I indulge myself in a sweet oneshot because one can only write so much angst at once.Or: Spoopy season is upon us and I wanted to do my part in contribution.





	The scar is not on the wrong side! (It was)

“You know, growing up, I’ve never once felt sad about being blind, or wished that I wasn’t. This may the the first time.” Toph lamented dramatically as the group of friends made their way down the dusky street, with the sun creeping below the horizon subtly behind their shoulders. “Sokka must be killing it in that dress.”

The tanned teenage boy in question was currently walking beside them, his white laced gown draped all the way to his feet, the hems trailing on the ground upon the concrete. His shoulders were exposed to the chilly evening air, and the chest of the dress was a little loose for him due to a lack of breasts on the young man, but all in all the dress hugged his figure quite decently.

“You bet your ass I do!” He declared happily, swinging his feathered boa with the most flamboyance he could manage, causing Aang and Katara to snicker.

“You have no idea how many times I caught him practicing that in front of the mirror in his bedroom at home, he’s perfected the move.” The latter informed the rest of the group. Sokka had enough cheek to look completely unapologetic and unfazed.

“Slander, lies,” He denied, “all lies. The talent was bestowed upon me naturally.”

“Wow, I wathn’t aware he knew so many big wordth.” Any sass Aang had managed in the dry comment was lost immediately to the awkward lisp he spoke with over the glued-on vampire fangs he wore as a part of his halfhearted costume.

They arrived at the gates of a small suburban house, with a beautifully carved comedy-tragedy jack-o-lantern on one of the pillars on the sides of the metal fence, and one with a lopsided smiley face that looked like it had been mauled by a raccoon on the other. It didn’t take a genius to figure out which of the two was carved by Uncle Iroh, and which by his nephew, the two residents of the house.

The gates were open already, probably in anticipation of trick-or-treaters that night, so they let themselves in and rung the doorbell of the house. The door cracked open and a white-bearded man stood at the doorway, grinning and holding up a bucket of candy.

“Oh, it’s you guys.” Uncle Iroh said in his usual cheery and amicable voice, still holding out his stash of treats, “come on in, and grab some candy anyway. Zuko’s just upstairs getting ready, you guys come take a seat in the living room.”

They thanked him and took their seats on the sofas of the living room, each quietly working through the handful of candy they grabbed on their way in, swapping with each other to make the most out of the mixed brands and kinds. Katara and Sokka both preferred peanut-butter cups and other chocolate and nuts based candies, while Aang, ever the sweet tooth, hogged all the mars bars and milky ways. Toph hated anything that would stick to her teeth, so most gummies and caramels were out of the question for her. The other three donated all their marshmallows which she proceeded to stuff into her mouth, pretty much all at once.

Sokka discreetly rounded up and saved all the fruity skittles for Zuko because he knew they were his favourite.

Uncle Iroh returned with a full teapot and several cups. If the old man confessed that he had a superpower, anyone’s first guess would be the ability to produce the best tea on demand in under a minute. The beverage tasted bitter in contrast to the aftertaste of the sweets, but the strong scent of jasmine made up for it.

“So, what are your costumes all supposed to be?” He asked, making conversation in Zuko’s absence, whom they could hear shuffling around upstairs.

“Oh, Aang and I just went for something simple.” Katara explained. She wore an all-black legging and a tight fitting top, sporting makeup on her face which consisted of dark eyeshadows and face paint of a stitched line across her lips and past the corners of her mouth. Aang was wearing a read cape with a tall collar, a pair of fangs glued sloppily to his front teeth. “We’re not anyone in particular.”

“I’m Chirrut Îmwe!” Toph piped up eagerly, raising her wooden staff into the air and pointing at her assortment of white belts running across her black and red robes, which were all coordinated with the help of Katara. Iroh raised his eyebrows amusedly.

“It’s a character from the new Star Wars movie.” Sokka explained helpfully. “We dragged Toph to see the movie for the first time last year with audio description, she’s been obsessed since.”

“I’m one with the force and the force is with me.” Toph chanted to Sokka’s comment.

“And I’m Christine Daaé.” The boy continued proudly in his horrible French accent while Iroh’s smile widened, “I’m matching Zuko’s character.”

“Yes, I figured. My nephew sounded very excited indeed, he’s never had a proper halloween before.” Iroh offered, chuckling softly.

None of them knew this, but it wasn’t hard to guess. From what Zuko disclosed about his life with his abusive father, they couldn’t imagine Ozai would condone letting him run around and have fun dressing up. Then, after he’d moved in with his uncle, he had spent two years being alone and angry and hurt, too insecure about his life and his scar to socialise or participate in the festivities.

It was only a couple months ago that he started putting himself out there to make friends and hang out with people his age, so all things considered, there was a good chance this was his first halloween that the group of friends could count.

As if summoned by the mention of his name, they heard shuffling down the stairs. “Sokka? Is that you?” A voice called out, cautious but hopeful.

“Yeah! We’re down here!” Sokka yelled back, eyes lighting up at the sound of Zuko’s voice.

“There may be a problem…” Zuko called uncertainly, Sokka eyed Iroh, both faces mirroring the other’s worry. All five people in the living room stood up anxiously as footsteps padded down the stairs and made their way to the living room.

As Zuko appeared round the corner, however, all tension diffused into snorts and laughter. The teenager was clad in a dark robe, worn over black suit pants and a vest, underneath which a white laced shirt peeked out, complete with a black bow tie. _He looked insanely handsome_, Sokka spared a thought amidst the laughter, but was immediately distracted once again by the mask he wore which covered half his face… the _right_ half of his face.

The angry red mark that bloomed across Zuko’s face remained plain as day, stark in contrast against the glossy, porcelain-like material of the mask. The scar ended, it seemed, exactly where the mask began, the two fitting together seamlessly, leaving not a single patch of his natural skin unveiled.

“What?” Toph demanded, irritated at being left out of the joke when Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Iroh laughed at the boy standing before them, hunched in embarrassment. “What is it?”

“The scar is on the wrong side!” Katara burst out with complete glee. If Zuko’s unscarred cheek was showing, they would have been able to see it redden into a flustered blush. Toph’s grin widened as she joined in with the amusement.

“The scar is not on the wrong side!” He barked, hot with embarrassment.

“Well, it thertainly ithn’t on the _right_ thide,” Aang lisped happily, “if it were, the mathk would cover it without a problem.”

This earned a renewed round of laughter from everyone in the house, save for Zuko, who spluttered even more. Among the teasing, however, Iroh subtly watched his nephew for signs of discomfort or indication that they’ve taken the joke too far, remembering all too well the panic attacks the kid had had in front of the mirror and how insecure he was about going to his new school on the first day because he couldn’t hide the raw red mark.

For all his indignance and agitation, however, Zuko hadn’t looked hurt or uncomfortable due to the attention paid to his scar, and as Iroh marvelled at the amount of openness and trust Zuko was able to give his newfound friends, and how at ease they made him, he could feel his heart swell at the hope that his sweet boy, for all the pain he had endured, had finally found a home.

“Okay, okay, wait,” Katara gasped out when she had finally managed to compose herself enough to form coherent sentences again, “you never thought to check which side the mask was on when you got the thing? Or when you, you know, _watched the movie twenty times_?”

Zuko mumbled something incoherent, but Toph, whose sense of hearing was sharp as a bat’s due to years of compensating for her blindness, caught it nonetheless. Her face stretched into an obscene smirk as she loudly asked, “You wanna say that louder for the rest of the room, sparky?”

“I _said_,” he repeated, head bowed over his bow tie, “it hadn’t occurred to me that my face had two possible sides to wear the mask on.”

This sent everyone over the edge once again, and Zuko watched on helplessly as the rooms were once filled with howls of giggling. “This isn’t fair!” He called out over the commotion, raising his voice and arms in defence, “I know _every word_ to _every song_ of that musical, and completely missed the side of the face his mask is on!”

It was Aang, bless that kid, who had the good conscience to stop teasing him and try to offer up a solution instead.

“I have a thpare thet of vampire teeth, if you want to do that inthtead? It could thill work with your robeth, and we could be lithp buddyth!”

With the wrong half of his face still covered in the disaster of a mask, Zuko knew he really had no right to make fun of Aang’s poorly-executed-costume-induced speech impediment, but he still managed a chuckle. “Hard pass on that, thanks. Besides, Sokka put so much effort into his half of the couple costume, I feel really bad messing up mine.”

“If you think I did this for you and not for the opportunity to look fantabulous, you’re dead wrong, babe!” Sokka struck a pose with his white boa.

“Love you too, dear.” Zuko commented dryly.

“We could always find a paper plate at the party and makeshift a DIY mask,” Katara offered instead, “on the right, and by that I mean left, side? We’d probably have to bring our own pair of scissors with us though.”

“You know what,” Zuko decided finally, “I think I’m just going to go with this. It’s not perfect, but at least everyone else seems to find it _hilarious_. We’ve wasted enough time as it is.”

He was right, the five teenagers suddenly noticed for the first time that the sun had completely set. Through the windows, they could see the streetlamps and jack-o-lanterns ablaze outside, in neat rows down the block, illuminating halloween decorations to various levels of artistic quality and sophistication.

“Wow,” Toph exclaimed with feigned surprise, sarcastically, “it’s so _dark_ I can’t see anything! we should really get a move on.”

She made for the door, pulling Aang along with her, and everyone else made to follow after thanking Uncle Iroh for the tea and sweets. Zuko trailed behind to hug his uncle goodbye, and promised to stay safe and have fun while the older man “held the fort against the little ghouls demanding confectionery”, as he put it himself.

“For the record, I think you still look hot. Like, insanely so.”

Sokka fell behind everyone as they strolled and bantered back up the street the way they came to meet their ride, slowing down to walk by Zuko’s side and whispering in a low, hushed voice. For the first time that evening, Zuko was grateful for the wardrobe malfunction of his costume - between his mask and his scar, the faint flush on both cheeks had been well disguised under the yellowish light of the road.

“Yeah, but you’re kind of legally obliged to say that though, you’re my boyfriend.”

“I think you mean ‘you look drop-dead gorgeous in that costume of yours too,’ _boyfriend_.”

Zuko chuckled and shook his head, admitting out loud that he did, in fact, find that Sokka pulled off the dress to a surprisingly great effect.

“Hey,” the latter said, slotting his fingers between the former’s, Sokka’s fingertips chilly in the October air and sending a shiver through the warm palms of Zuko’s hands and down his spine. “I’ve been meaning to save this line until the end of the evening, but I’m so excited I may have to throw it at you now.”

“What?”

The boy in the dress stretched his face into the goofiest grin, as he recited the lines he learnt especially for the occasion of being the character her was. “Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime? Say those words and I will follow you. Share each day with me, each night, each morning, say you love me - that’s all I ask of you.”

“As touched as I am, you do realise Christine sang that to Raoul, and not the Phantom, right?”

“What!” Sokka yelped, indignantly, “The mask guy is not the main love interest? Then why did we even dress up as these two people? Why are you not that - _Rowl_ person, or whatever?”

Zuko gestured vaguely at his face.

“Thank God you didn’t sing it though, at least.” He then quipped, smirking sideways.

“Hey! Fuck you!”

“Hmm, maybe later.”

“_Really _original. And you are the worst.”

Aang, Katara, and Toph heard Zuko’s laughter ringing clear through the street, and turned around to find out what it was about, only to be greeted by the sight of the Sokka cutting him off with a kiss in the middle of the pavement, neither of them were moving forward anymore.

“Ewwww, you guys!” Katara called as Aang let out a teasing whoop, and narrating to Toph (with perhaps too many excruciating details) what was going on. “Less smooching, more walking!”

“Honestly I’m surprised they restrained themselves for this long.” Was Toph’s only remark, “that’s gotta be a new record they just set in the department of longest time spent around each other without giving in to the urge of PDA.”

Sokka and Zuko had the good conscience to look a little embarrassed at that.

They approached the end of the street, where black SUV parked just on the side round the corner turning up to the main road. The driver, face painted with tribal patterns and wearing the armour getup in the Black Panther movie, saw them finally walking up, and rolled down the window.

“You guys are half an hour late! What took you so long?” Suki called out, without any real annoyance or aggression in her voice. She was their designated driver to all their group outings as she owned a large enough car to transport all of them. She had continuously refused to disclose where she had acquired such a “sweet ride”, as Sokka put it, and it had always been a topic of intense speculation among the gang of friends.

“We had a slight costume issue. Zuko, you wanna demonstrate?” Katara explained, sidestepping as Toph shoved the boy in question up to the window in a swift move of impressive coordination.

Suki stared at costume for a couple seconds with an unchanging reaction. Her gaze moved from the robes to the vest to the white shirt to the black bow tie against the laced collar, and then to…

“Oh!” Her eyes widened as realisation dawned on her face, which she then pulled into a playful grimace. “Yikes, your scar is on the wrong side, huh?”

Katara let out an absolute whoop of delight as she exclaimed _that’s exactly what she had said and Zuko had denied it_ and Zuko protested loudly that t_he scar was most definitely not on the wrong side and he wasn’t denying it._ The group descended into chaos as Sokka laughed and pulled the door open, guiding Aang and Toph into the back seats because _no, Toph, you can’t call shotgun,_ and telling Suki to _just drive them to the party, dammit._

_Vertical symmetry issue and wardrobe confusions aside_, Zuko thought, _this was shaping up to be a great first halloween._


End file.
